Devlog-Yunhao

For my part of the prototyping, I am supposed to concept test the main and possible gameplays within the game. I started with a concise concept questionnaire (concept testing) that described the flooding simulation, population moral, decision making within the game. 

To create these questions, I started with working on describing the different aspects that the game should have. I then figured that it seems that there are too many aspects that I would need to ask the play testers to answer. So I played a few similar games briefly, think about the key points that are important to the resource management game and simplified my questionnaire to 5 questions. The final questions and answers are as below. 

1. What part of this concept interests you the most?

 It seems that flooding is the most interesting part of the game, this is also the part where they see it differentiate this resource management game from other similar types of games. They also mentioned this game kind of feels like those Roblox Tycoon game, they also offered a possibility for playtesting to be built within Roblox since there are already so many Tycoon games for reference there, better than starting from scratch for prototype. 

 2. What kind of emotional tone would you expect from this game?

 The feedback was that this game should feel depressing, have a dark grey mood. So the player will be able to feel the darkness and despair of being unable to change the current situation. But there is also feedback that focuses on the change of emotional tone, as in the better the city becomes, the brighter the visual and audio feedback changes. 

 3. Would you prefer to focus on management and planning or story and survival choices?

The play tester would prefer to focus on the management aspect of the game. But they also think that story and survival choices are basically connected to the management of the game. They would like to see more of a focus on the gameplay with only necessary story required. 

4. How long would you expect to play a single session?

 Most likely more than 5-6 hours per week on this game, play on weekends when there is more free time. But mostly it depends on how interesting the gameplay mechanic appeals to them. 

 5. Which visual or thematic style appeals more？

 The play testers prefer realist, something like colorful sky that they cannot reach for compare to grey, low saturated buildings for things that they can interact with. 

 For the playtest, I just let the player read the questions and answer my questions verbally while I write down what they think on the spot, this allows me to have a conversation to ask them details on the reasoning behind the answers. 

 Based on the concept testing, several assumptions were confirmed: 

•  The flooding system is a strong differentiator and should remain central to the game, and players for this genre generally enjoy long-form management gameplay.
• The testing also led to a refinement of team consensus: the emotional tone of the game should shift dynamically rather than remaining dark throughout, and the narrative should be minimal and supportive rather than dominant.
• Several design constraints were identified, including the need for visual feedback—such as color saturation, lighting, and atmospheric changes—to be integrated into core design rather than treated as mere polish.
• Gameplay must accommodate both slow, strategic planning and responsive crisis management, while the overall scope should be carefully managed to avoid overwhelming players.

Regarding workload and scope estimation, a significant portion of development effort will be required for environmental state transitions, such as shifting from grey, desolate visuals to more colorful, hopeful visuals as the city improves. Flood simulation mechanics will also need to be prototyped early, given their central role and technical complexity. Concept testing revealed new opportunities, including the potential to explore a Roblox-based prototype due to the typical Tycoon-style systems, which could accelerate early iterations and playtesting.

New risks were identified as well, including the challenge of balancing realism with hopeful sci-fi aesthetics and the possibility that overly complex management systems could reduce accessibility for casual players.